In orthodontics, treatments for achieving alignment of malposed teeth in a subject include applying orthodontic appliances, such as orthodontic aligners, to the subject's teeth. Orthodontic aligners are typically worn over the teeth of the top and/or bottom archforms in order to exert loads to the teeth to induce tooth movements or to retain tooth positions. Although they are removable, aligners are typically arranged to be worn for extended periods during the day and/or night.
Aligners are typically custom-designed, in terms of shape and thickness, to the subject's teeth and an orthodontic treatment for exerting desired loading conditions to the teeth. In order to attain a desired correction, a sequence of consecutive treatment stages using a sequence of aligners, respectively configured to exert certain loads, may be needed. Generally, the shapes of the aligners and their thickness, among other factors, determine the effective loading conditions that may be exerted to the teeth and the effective correction that may be attained.
One method of manufacturing such orthodontic aligners comprises thermoforming using thermoforming devices. In conventional thermoforming methods, precursor aligners (also referred to as “blanks” or “workpieces”) are shaped over a mold representative of the desired aligner configuration facilitated by heat and pressure. However, in certain circumstances, these methods give rise to inconsistent results in which the configuration of the aligner thus produced differs from the desired aligner configuration. Such variations can give rise to ineffective orthodontic treatments or discomfort to the subject.
It is an object of the present technology to ameliorate at least some of the inconveniences present in the prior art.